Another murder case filed against ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina
Dhaka (PTI): A murder case was filed against Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday over the death of a teacher, the latest in the string of cases filed against her after her ouster.
The case was filed against Hasina and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader in Bogura. Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5 after she was forced to resign following a massive protest by students against a quota system in government jobs.
Ninety-nine other local leaders and activists of her party were also sued in the case filed with Bogura Sadar Police Station over the murder of 35-year-old Selim Hossain, a resident of Palikanda village of Shibganj upazila, on August 4.
On August 4, the day before Hasina resigned and fled the country in the face of a student-led mass uprising, Hossain joined students' protest in Bogura's Satmatha area.
According to the complaint, Awami League (AL) leaders and activists attacked the protesters and hacked Hossain to death with sharp weapons.
Hossain's brother alleged that AL men killed his brother after getting orders from Hasina and Quader.
This is the latest in a string of cases filed against Hasina following her ouster on August 5.
A case of enforced disappearance was filed on August 14 against Hasina and several others, including former ministers of her cabinet, on the charge of kidnapping a lawyer in 2015.
On August 13, a murder case was lodged against Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month's violent clashes that led to the fall of her government.
Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday started an investigation against the former premier and nine others on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity that took place from July 15 to August 5 during students' mass movement against her government.
A complaint was filed on Wednesday with the investigation agency of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal against Hasina, Awami League general secretary and former road transport and bridges minister Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and several other prominent figures within the party.
A team of UN experts will visit Bangladesh next week to investigate the killings of the protesters ahead of and in the aftermath of Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as the prime minister last week, it was announced on Thursday.
An interim government was formed after the fall of the Hasina-led regime, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed as its Chief Adviser.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
